Queen of her Country
by Sketcher1994
Summary: Nico Robin is strong, caring, and loved by her people, but happy alone in her castle. Her country's borders are constantly under attack from men wanting her lands, knowing she has no heir and no way to have one without a king. Her Lords hear rumours of alliances, but her Ladies' Maid has an idea to make things right before the Queen's next birthday. All songs belong to Halestorm.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda! All songs belong to Halestorm!  
**

 **Hey! It's been a while, hasn't it?! Sorry! Life's far too bust these days :P Being an adult continues to be a stressful annoyance. I literally go to work to escape. I'm genuinely saving up for a mortgage deposit. Anyway, as some of you may know, I now have two nephews, my grandad died, and (as no-one knows yet) I got home from a ten hour shift two weeks ago to find out that my mother had been rushed off to hospital. She's still recovering from her op, but she's not allowed to do anything yet. I also have a new job. By the end of my last one, I was being treated like dirt and being paid illegal wages while being expected to accept that my employer was 'doing me a favour'. I now work ~40 hours a week for minimum wage. This could be changing next week when the new manager starts. I have been warned that people might be getting let go. I've only been there a month, so chances are I'll be first. *sigh***

 **Hope you're doing well? Please enjoy this random musical inspired by "Dirty Work" by Halestorm! The song in Act One is "Mayhem".**

* * *

 **ACT 1**

"Can I help you?"

"I only came to ask for your answer." The large armed Lord replied as he finally stepped through the tall doorway into her library.

"My answer is no, as it is to any man that takes it upon themselves to ask me." She explained, a sweet smile across her lips as her cold voice sent a chill rushing down the man's spine. "I need someone younger... Someone I can manipulate but my people will respect. I need someone my enemies will tremble at the sight of."

"Will your enemies not tremble at the sight of me?" He mused while flexing the muscles in his arms, used to her casual darkness from years of service by her side.

"So you admit I could manipulate you?" She chuckled, her gaze returning to her thick, leather bound book as he pretended to show off for her.

"You, my SUPER Queen, could manipulate any man you wished." He grinned back, lowering his sunglasses to wink over the top of them at her.

"However, you would not be manipulated – you would know that was what I wanted and would therefore do what you were told to. The people would not truly respect such an obvious puppet-play," the Queen countered, not looking up from the pages of her book, "or you could choose to not do what you were told, in which case, you would still not fulfil that requirement either."

"So, how do you plan to achieve this perfect King of yours?" The Lord inquired, moving to lean his large frame against the wall. "Your neighbours are getting too close, what with your thirtieth birthday coming up. You will need to move SUPER fast to get a husband so you can get an heir in your charming belly before they begin to act together."

"Do you doubt me, my Lord?" The Queen asked, keeping her voice sickly sweet.

She watched as he shook his head with a greatly amused grin. When had he become so informal with her? He was correct though; she did need to find a suitable husband soon. Perhaps she should take the advice of her Ladies' Maid? The girl had suggested a tournament to allow her to view all of the strong, young men of the country without drawing too much attention to herself. She often made appearances at such things. She could draw in potential husbands with the temptation of prize money and ask her Lord of Intelligence to investigate each of the top four. Perhaps it should be top eight? Her people may not respect anyone lower than the top four, but the top four could be completely unsuitable. Either way, she could then talk to anyone Lord Dragon considered to fit her requirements.

"I need someone young...A man my age will not be all that useful for distracting my neighbours. I need someone with the will to fight, but they must also be able to lead an army...I need someone to sire me a strong heir...A tournament and background check shall provide me with the answers I seek."

...

"Now what do you want?" The orange haired woman sighed, flicking her long, wavy ponytail that reached as far as her tailbone back over her shoulder effortlessly.

"I brought you flowers, my bewitching love." The young cook smiled, holding out a bunch of slightly crumpled looking white gerbera.

"Did I die?" She returned, her hands planting themselves firmly on her broad hips.

"I believe white flowers are supposed to convey modesty and elegance, not one's death." He answered, bowing his head slightly as he looked up at her from his one visible eye, the other hidden by a curtain of straight, blonde fringe.

"I associate them with funerals." She returned, turning her back on the tall, lean blonde currently down on one knee with the bouquet of flowers held out in front of him. Why would he think that she wanted beaten up white flowers from him?

"Just give me a chance, my sweet maiden." He cooed, reaching a hand out to her past the flowers.

She did not bother to glance back over her shoulder at the fool of a cook as she began along the cold, grey, stone corridor.

...

Zoro looked around the bar with a sigh.

"I'm so bored with, this world that spins around me, used to make me so dizzy." He frowned, taking a sip of his pint. "I'm so tired of, these girls that hang around me," he continued, rolling his eye at the girl currently trying to lean against his arm seductively, "used to drive me crazy."

He pushed his stool back from the bar, causing the girl to lose her balance and stumble to the floor, as he stood up.

"A little mayhem never hurt anyone, where'm a gonna get some?" He asked, looking around at the disgruntled gentlemen and womanisers. "A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone, where'm I gonna get some?"

He placed a hand on the hilt of one of his katana, a smirk across his lips as a tall man finally took a step towards him with a poorly cared for sword suddenly in his hand. Zoro grimaced at the state of the sword, but relished the idea of a fight.

" _A little mayhem never hurt anyone, I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some_." He grinned, slashing the first challenger to the side with a single katana in the blink of an eye. " _A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone, I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some!_ "

Another two men rose to their feet, drawing their own swords.

"Cruel intentions, winds me in a spiral. I'm waiting to unravel." He smirked sadistically, resting the back of his katana over his shoulder. "Twisted motives, drive me in a circle. I'm dying to untangle."

He sliced through the two men with a single spinning slash of air before they had him in their short ranges. Where was his mayhem?

"A little mayhem never hurt anyone, _where'm a gonna get some_?" He asked again, scanning the crowded bar. "A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone, _where'm I gonna get some_?"

A group of men decided it was their turn and he grinned, knowing he would finish them as instantly as the previous 'heroes'.

" _A little mayhem never hurt anyone, I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some_." He called as he proved his internal prediction. " _A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone, I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some!_ "

He cracked his neck as every man in the bar stood from their seats. About time, he silently smirked as he drew a second katana from his waist, leaving the third where it was – he would not need it for this lot.

"I wanna feel the chaos! I wanna hear the uproar! A little pandemonium, _I know I'm not the only one!_ I wanna be, the only way I wanna feel! I wanna feel the walls shake!" He exclaimed, his grin increasingly sadistic as he sliced every attacker that ran at him. "I wanna feel the walls sha- Ah! Shakky!" He flinched as the older female bartender laid a hand on his shoulder.

"And how do you plan to pay for the damages, Roronoa Zoro?" She inquired lightly. "Shall I turn you over to border control? I believe a few of the neighbouring countries have some high bounties on you."

"I'll find the money." He grunted unthreateningly as he sheathed his katana, knowing not to mess with this particular woman.

"Would you mind settling this urge and your current need for money in one sweep?" Shakky continued, ignoring his response. "It would save all of us a little money on repairs while earning us a small fortune from your drinking before you're run from this country too."

"What have you got in mind?" He frowned, glancing around at the broken stools and slashes in the walls that let daylight into the previously shady bar.

"The queen is hosting a tournament."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda**

 **Hey... Just realised I haven't updated this since the 8th of September 2016...? An update on me... I'm in the process of buying a flat and I got a new job. I'm now a Trainee Supervisor in a steak and seafood restaurant. I've been there for about a year, having been head-hunted. Absolutely love my job and the people I work with and for, so I'm pretty happy at the moment? Hope all of you are keeping well and life's treating ok?**

 **Anyway, please enjoy this update! The song in Act 2 is "What Were You Expecting".**

* * *

 **ACT 2**

"That will be everything, Nami, thank you." The Queen sighed as she settled into her bed with a book.

"I hope the tournament goes well tomorrow, my Queen." The orange haired woman nodded, leaving the room with a small curtsey.

"My dearest Nami, are you now finished for the night?" The irritatingly familiar voice of the blonde cook cooed.

"Yes." She sighed, closing the door to the Queen's room silently before rounding on him. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought some chocolates for you." He sang, falling to one knee as he held the slightly crushed box out to her.

"Look, Cook, back off." She ordered, folding her arms in front of her plentiful bosom. "I know what you must be thinking, you're not right. You should know, I'm not your baby, not tonight. I never was, the kind of girl to trip and fall in love. I never was, the kind to say enough is not enough. I never was, the touchy-feely, co-dependent kind. I like the feeling, but I'm not on cloud nine."

She laughed as his confused expression, turning her back on him.

"Ya love it, ya hate it. Ya think it, ya say it. Ya want it, ya need it." She explained, waving back over her shoulder at him without looking back. "I tell ya, but ya don't believe it."

She paused for a moment before turning to look back at him with a condescending look.

" _What were you expecting? Another lullaby? Are you kidding?! You must be high! You must be high, 'cause it was just one kiss!_ " She began walking towards him, swinging her hips. "I don't need your flowers, they'll just go to waste. I don't want your candy, 'cause I don't like the taste. There never was, the possibility I'd stick around. It never was, my intention to let you down. I never was, the kind of girl that's good at playin' house." She ranted in exasperation. "Ya want it, ya need it. I tell ya, but you don't believe it."

She stopped as he knelt below her, still looking up at her with a bright blue eye that seemed so innocent.

" _What were you expecting? Another lullaby? Are you kidding?! You must be high! You must be high, 'cause it was just one kiss!_ " She repeated, still not able to believe he was still making such a fuss. " _Everything about you makes me scream! Get off your knees and be a man! I'm trying to say this in the nicest way._ "

"But seriously." She snorted. " _What were you expecting? Another lullaby? Are you kidding?!_ You must be high _._ "

"Nami?" The Queen's voice called from inside the room.

"Now look what you did." She sighed, turning her back on the blonde cook once more.

"I won't give up." He stated as he finally rose from the floor, his hardened stare now focused by her feet.

...

Sanji sat quietly at the bar, staring into the depths of his merlot. Did he really mean nothing to her? The way she spoke about him, she made it seem like she could not care enough about him to hate him for pestering her. He could have wooed many women in the time he had spent just trying to get her to give him a chance. She hated men like him? What kind of man was he? He liked women, yes, but there was more to him than that. He had shown her how much he loved his craft. She knew how passionate he was about never wasting food...Had that not been why she had kissed him? She had admired, rather than _feared_ , that passion?

"What's up with you this evening? Your step-father give you a good beating again?" The charming, older female bartender mused as she polished a pint glass.

"No...Want some chocolate?" He offered with a small smile while holding out the battered box.

"Ah, Nami again?" She smirked, taking a round, cocoa power dusted white chocolate from the box. "Have you decided she's the one or are you just looking for a challenge?"

"I won't know until she gives me a chance..." He sighed, picking a square dark chocolate with white tiger stripes out of the box.

"If she keeps rejecting your gifts, my husband's going to get jealous." Shakky laughed, shaking her head at the young man as she glanced over at the man with long white hair settled in the corner with a newspaper.

"She accused me of being on drugs because I had apparently figured her to be the kind of girl who loved playing house." He groaned, dropping his forehead onto the edge of the bar. "She hates my type."

"Flimsy, lovey-dovey types?" Shakky offered, only to receive another groan in response. "What does she like? Big strong men? Or is it not about the man, but what he can offer?"

"Are you trying to suggest she's shallow?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes at her as he raised his head. "She isn't or she would have taken the gifts and everything else that she could get from me."

"What can you offer her that she doesn't already have?" Shakky reiterated as she moved to pour a customer another pint.

"I don't know...It wouldn't surprise me if she had guys lining up through the city for her." He frowned as he glared at the customer for grumbling about the price. The place was clearly _named_ as a rip-off bar. "She did tell me she likes money and tangerines?"

"So you offer her crushed, large, white daisies and fancy chocolates in a small, battered up box?" Shakky laughed, causing Sanji's cheeks to heat slightly. He could have sworn she was supposed to wait until _after_ he left to start laughing at him. "What happened to the box anyway? I'm assuming the flowers had just faded a little while you were working."

"I had to keep them with my normal clothes in the staff changing room...A couple of the guys had just dumped their stuff on mine. I kicked their asses for it, but I couldn't explain to a lady that a couple of idiots had dumped stuff on her chocolates." He pouted, his chin resting on the bar as he looked into his wine.

"So since she knows about your hatred for wasting food, she probably thinks you dug them out of the bin after the Queen threw out more chocolates from one of her many suitors." Shakky returned and Sanji banged his head off of the bar top once more.

"Careful, she's already pissed with me for wrecking the place the other day." A deep male voice warned in obvious amusement as the stool next to him moved. "Usual, Shakky."

Sanji studied the knee-high black boots made of soft, supple leather and let his attention drift up to the baggy black trousers. He heard Shakky lay a pint down on the bar in front of the man and the rough voice grunted a thanks. The guy seemed to be wearing some sort of large, forest green tunic that hung down to his knees with pine toggles to keep it closed at the bottom. He raised his head from the bar and lifted his wine, ignoring the guy who had suddenly decided to butt into his conversation with Shakky.

"How about you prove to her that you're strong? She maybe thinks you are some weedy little kitchen boy?" Shakky continued, seemingly trying to provoke him.

"I'm not some stupid kitchen boy." Sanji hissed, biting his tongue as he reprimanded himself for talking in such a way to a lady.

"So what are you?" The man next to him inquired, his tone suggesting that he was not really all that interested.

"Why do you want to know?" Sanji returned, turning to glare at the man for interrupting again. He blinked as he saw the man's hair. It was the colour of mint ice cream and slicked back with a few strands falling forward over his forehead.

"What you staring at, swirly-brow?" The man growled.

"Your shitty hair, moss-head." Sanji snarled, the green haired man having hit a nerve. Why did people make fun of his damn eyebrows?!

"Zoro, you've done enough damage in here for a week." The white haired man warned as he suddenly appeared between them. So the man's name was Zoro. "Why don't you sort this show of masculinity tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Sanji frowned, looking up at Rayleigh.

"He's not worth the trouble." Zoro snorted, taking another sip of his pint, hitting another of Sanji's nerves with his comment.

"The Queen's tournament." Shakky answered for her husband. "It would be a good way to show your little Nami that you're strong."

"You really think wiping the floor with this freak's going to win her over?" Sanji smirked, watching a vein twitch in Zoro's forehead.

"Sanji, go home." Rayleigh sighed, gesturing to him to finish his wine. "Ask your father for the day off if you want to enter, but just keep out of trouble."

"He's been repairing the walls for the last few days." Shakky explained quietly and Sanji quickly downed the remains of his wine before leaving – a grumpy Silvers Rayleigh is not someone to be messed with.


End file.
